Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-28
4 BLIGHTED RACE.
WoMAN'S LOT IN TIE PsNINSULAR
VILLAGES OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Beautiful Creatures at 10 aud Old and
Haggard at 3O-A Life OF Continual
Suspense and AnNiety-The Only Fu-
tur- Expected.
sIf there was ever hlIghted race OF wO-
men" said gentleman of this city, recently
returned from a visit to CAPE Cod. lit exists
in the peninsular villages Of Massachusetts,
which depenh on the fisheries for the support
of their inhabitants Nowhere else in all New
England will one ever see 50 high an average
Of female beauty especially IN symmetry of
form and freshness of complexion: hut il will
not take one luug to discover that this girlish
beauty and freshness. while unusual and I'M
expectei. i also in its duration very brief
The change produced in these girls hy the
Lapse Of few wears is painful to observe No
matronlv graccs are to I've seen among them
after their girlhooi days are past. That
charming middle stage of maturing woman
hood. between the freshness and buovancv of
the girl of 70 and the woman Of - 90 ~. is
absent The heightened color ofthe cheeks is
gone The eyes are sunkrn. and wear n con-
staut look Of sadness and anxiety. Gray hair
in heads over which a score and half Of
years have aroelv passed, and deep lines in
faces which should show no trace of age for
wears 10 come, are rather the rule than the
exception. These women. besides suffering
from all the inevitable sorrows which fall to
wOman's lot. no matter in what station she
may he placed. have an added intense and
perpetual sorrow all their own. Theirs is a
life of continual suspense and anxiety, which
is almost certain in time tn I've embittered by
an overwhelming grief.
LACK OF MATRONLY BEAUTY.
"Thc most obtuse observer needs not ask
the cause Of this lack Of complete matronlv
beauty among these women, whose budding
days open with the greatest promise Of a su-
perb physical wOmanhond The cause .ug-
ge-Sts itself at once to one who sees the congre
cations of women on the beaches and in the
quiet streets Of the SLEEPY villages. He will
notice occasionally a feeble old man among
them. generally supported on the arm Of some
female companion. who, most likely, carries
on her other arm chubby faced child Of
luSty lungs. But in these groups, or any
where around the village, the observer will
look III vain for the presence of males he
tween the totteriug years of thesa relics of the
past and the prattling DAYS Of babyhooi II
is the fishing season. and there are no men or
bows on shore Their SmaCkS are tossing on
the treacherolIS waters Of the fishing banks,
and their return. if they return al all is as
uncertain aS the weather. which forms the
one great subject of conjecture and apprehen-
sion among the villagers Husbands, SONS,
fathers. brothers and sweethearts are some
where out on bosom Of the sea- probably
homeNard bound, perhaps steering for still
more distant waters, perhaps struggling for
life Among the waves.
Fair weather keeps hope warm in many
an anxious woman's heart; the bowling north
easter fills it with doubt and despair Con-
stantly watching by day, waking in the night
to listen 10 sounds from the sea, whether they
NAV he the roaring of the dreaded tempest or
merely the moan Of the surf on the beach, is
it any wonder that the torture Of mind and
heart and the strain of nerve and vital force
that must follow this perpetual suspense and
longing destroy the fountains of youth and
beauty in these patient, suffering women,
and place upon them the marks Of age while
they are vet young.
Yet the girls grow up with but one thought
of what their future lot will lie, with but one
object in view on which their visions of hap
pineSs are hased. Go among any group OF
these bright girls, in any of the villages of the
class | am speaking of, and you will find that
nine out of ten of them look forward to q
union with some one who will spend his life
fishing in the summer and coasting in the
winter. The idea that there might lie any
other future than the one which is to come &c
them rs 'Shermen's wives, or that the life OF
a fisherman's wife is anything different from
seems t. occur. New York Mail and E1